District 6 Advisory Board

District VI Advisory Board Minutes www.wichita.gov Monday Evergreen Branch Library September 10, 2018 2601 N. Arkansas, Wichita, KS 67204 6:30 p.m. Conference Room The District VI Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at the Evergreen Branch Library conference room, 2601 N. Arkansas, Wichita, KS 67204. There were seven District Advisory Board members, the Council Member, seven staff members and five members of the public in attendance. Members Present Staff Present Denise O’Leary-Seimer Officer Nate Schweithale WPD Lorenza Snyder Officer Steve Jerrell, WPD Gregory Boyajian Darrin Williams, WPD Linda Matney F. Tejeda, WPD Shaun Rojas Chris Fleming, WFD Bill Longnecker David Yearout MAPD Gisela Peña Brandon Findley, Office of Community Services Council Member Cindy Claycomb Members Absent Guests Matt Brown Raul Tanguma Joel Weihe Al Wakil Angela Martinez Charlene Manning James Deckhard Harold Schlechtweg Carrington Thom (Youth member) Opal Schrag Call to Order Council Member Cindy Claycomb called the meeting to order. Approval of Minutes The minutes for August 6, 2018 were approved. Motion passed (7-0) Citizen Agenda Scheduled items: Harold Schlechtweg, International Rescue Committee, informed about the International Rescue Committee. It is a refugee resettlement agency and has resettled about 1600 refugees in Wichita since 2012. Refugees by definition are those who are fleeing violence, terror or oppression. Refugees are certified as such by the U.N and apply to live in a 3 rd country, in our case the United States. They are thoroughly vetted and that process can take as long as 2 or 3 years. This year the U.S is going to accept about 20,000 refugees, about 150 of which will come to Wichita. Of those 1600 refugees there are about 16 different nationalities. Refugees are eligible to work as soon as they enter the country. IRC works with the Dept. of State to provide services to these refuges so they can successfully integrate into our Wichita community. They help them find housing, ESL classes, workplace and cultural orientation and also provide employment services. These refugees generally become self-sufficient within about 90-180 days and are then on a path to citizenship after that. DAB Member: Is there any particular reason you are advocating at this time? Harold Schlechtweg: Yes. We are hoping to see where citizens stand on refugee resettlement and try to discover the best ways we can help refugees integrate into the community so they can be contributing community members. DAB Member: More power to you, the more you get the word out the better off we all will be. Officer Steve Jerrell: Do you have after hour’s translation services for Swahili speakers? Harold Schlechtweg: After hours we do not but if you give me your card I can talk to about it with my Executive Director.  September 10, 2018 DAB Member: So refugees are vetted through the U.N? Harold Schlechtweg: They are vetted through Homeland Security, the Counter Terrorism Task Force, the F.B.I and the C.I.A. The U.N verifies that they have been driven from their home country. Recommended Action: Receive and file Off-agenda items: Nancy Olivas – I am here to represent the Mercadito Hispano Nomar. We have been operating at the Nomar Plaza for 2 months and we have 16 new vendors. We are open every Saturday and Sunday. We leave our booths set up over-night and have security watch the booths overnight. A couple weeks ago the security guard caught a couple of people that were exiting the local bars attempting to signal others to come into the plaza. The security called one of the families to come to the plaza and when they arrived the people ran off. We are hoping that the Wichita Police Department would support the mercado by maybe having a presence in the area when the bars in the area let out, around 2:00 a.m. Officer Steve Jerrell: If you will give us the security guard’s phone number we can keep in contact with him and see if there is ever a need for our assistance. Nancy Olivas: Thank you very much. Action Taken: Receive and file Staff Reports Community Police Report: Officer Nate Schweithale, WPD Patrol South, gave an update on the Broadway Corridor Team’s efforts to combat vagrancy around the Open Door facility. He also talked about his trip to Washington D.C. to present on homeless outreach, as Wichita’s H.O.T team was recognized as a best practice model in police services to the homeless. Officer Darrin Williams, WPD Patrol West, stated that they were monitoring school gridlock situations near Hadley Middle School. He talked about how they are attempting to educate the public about what to do and not to do when picking up their child from school. He also mentioned the Wagon Master’s Chili Cook Off which will take place on September 22nd and ICT open Streets on September 23rd. He also stated that the Coffee with a Cop event will be held at 21st and Maize on October 3rd from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. at Lamar’s Donuts and then again on October 9th from 7a.m. to 9 a.m. at Starbucks at 21st and Maize. He also talked about the Cuffs vs. Axes boxing event coming up on Nov. 2nd. He then mentioned that W.P.D now has their own traffic counters so they can do traffic counts individually. Council Member Claycomb: Matt Brown is not here tonight to ask but he would like to know if Orchard Park asked for a traffic count on 9th Street? Officer Williams: They have in the past, I can check with Brian Coon to see if they have recently. Officer Steve Jerrell, WPD Patrol North, reported on business burglaries and car burglaries in the area. He also stated that there was a double homicide on his beat. He mentioned that they were also working on an auto theft investigation. He also asked that people stop by the Open Streets event and say hi to him if they get a chance. DAB Member: Thank you for responding on Next Door about the burglaries in our neighborhood. Steve Jerrell: Thank you for sending it to me and I will also say we determined that we do not think those individuals were actually involved in those burglaries, but we appreciate you letting us know. Fire Department Report: Captain Chris Fleming stated that the Wichita Fire Department currently has around 53,000 alarms for the year. In July the Fire Department had 31 fire alarms, 78 calls for misc. services and 646 medical alarms with a total of 755 incident s in July. In august there were 2 fires, one at 2900 N. Halstead with an estimated loss of $90,000 and another fire at 1926 N. Edwards with an estimated loss of $7,000. He also mentioned to be careful with items next to floor furnaces if you have one and to get your furnace checked prior to the Winter and to change your smoke alarm batteries when the time changes.  September 10, 2018 DAB Member – There was recently a playground fire where old tires are used for flooring at the playground. Should we be concerned about this use of old tire materials on playgrounds? Captain Chris Fleming - I’m actually not sure if that is a scenario to be concerned about or not, I’m not familiar with whether or not those materials are likely to accelerate a fire. Recommended Action: Receive and file New Business ZON2018-00031 Dave Yearout, Metropolitan Area Planning Department, presented an application from Stanley Blankenship (Owner) who is requesting a zone change from SF-5 Single Family Residential to GC General Commercial to the 0.53-acre property located on the northwest corner of 52nd Street North and North Armstrong Avenue (5401 North Armstrong Avenue). The applicant/owner operates an existing machine shop on the property to the west of the subject site and has recently acquired this lot to expand the business. The intent is to rezone this property to GC General Commercial (GC), which is the same zoning of the existing business property, and obtain a variance (BZA2018-00050) in order to construct a new building similar in appearance but which will not have the street frontage devoted to an office, display or sales area as required by the Unified Zoning Code. The existing business to the west received a variance in 2004 for the same condition when the expansion occurred at that time. The applicant was advised prior to submission of this application that additional right-of-way would be required along 53rd Street North on the subject property in order to conform to the requirements of the City of Wichita and to align with the street right-of-way on the property to the west. Except for the machine shop to the west, the surrounding neighborhood is mostly single-family residential uses and zoned SF-5 Single-Family Residential (SF-5). There are also some properties zoned LC Limited Commercial (LC) and GC General Commercial on the south side of 53rd Street North further to the west, and some LC Limited Commercial zoning at the intersection of Seneca Street and 53rd Street North to the west. There is a church to the east of Armstrong Avenue on the north side of 53rd Street North. Questions/Comments from the DAB: Council Member Claycomb: We are hearing this after the fact due to the Labor Day holiday causing us not to have a meeting prior to the hearing. DAB: Will building height standards apply to the light poles? Dave Yearout: Yes, the building will be brought into compliance. Action Taken: O’Leary-Seimer/Snyder made a motion to approve the request. Motion passed 7-0 ZON2018-00037 Kyle Kobe, Metropolitan Area Planning Department, presented an application from Viafone Inc. who is requesting a zone change from LC Limited Commercial to GC General Commercial to the 0.5 acre property located on the northeast corner of East Murdock Avenue and North Broadway Avenue (312 East Murdock Avenue) to allow for a tattoo shop to operate on site. The property to the north is zoned LC Limited Commercial and has surface parking and an event center use on site. East of the site along is zoned B Multi Family Residential and is currently a mix of surface parking and undeveloped parcels. Slightly further to the east, across North Topeka Avenue, is the site of the Via Christi Regional Medical Center. West of the site is zoned LC Limited Commercial is developed as commercial businesses. South of the property is zoned GC General Commercial and is the site of a gas station. The entirety of North Broadway Avenue from East Central Avenue to North Broadway Avenue is zoned GC General Commercial with the exception of a portion of the parcels that are zoned CBD Central Business District. Questions/Comments from the DAB: DAB Member: Are there any limitations to using L.E.D signs at this property? I ask because I am concerned about the potential use of these signs being used here and how it could negatively affect people driving by and potentially cause accidents. I ask in this setting because I see to overly bright L.E.D signs being a problem in the City.  September 10, 2018 DAB Member: From my perspective we have to recognize that these signs exist elsewhere in the City, so if this business chooses to use them we should not try to limit that usage, as it could put this business at a disadvantage in comparison to their competitors. If the signs are allowed in general in the city, then this business should also be able to use them if they choose to until a change in the sign code takes place. DAB Member: I agree and am only trying to get the conversation started because I see it as an issue. Thank you for allowing me to do so. Raul Tanguma: We have no intentions of using L.E.D signage. Action Taken: Snyder/Matney made a motion to approve the request. Motion passed 7-0 Issues of Concern DAB Member: There was a road by Towne West that was closed for a while and I thought it was going to stay closed but I noticed it was reopened, can you tell me about that? Council Member Claycomb – Yes they have reoriented that street for safety purposes and are monitoring it to make sure it is going to remain safe, if so it will remain open. DAB Member: There are 2 stop signs on the bike path by La Familia that cyclists blow past on a regular basis. Can we remove those and instead put a sign up that can let car drivers know that there are cyclists in the area? Brandon Findley: I will look into that and have someone contact you. Council Member Claycomb: There are weeds next to the 14th green in Sims Park that need to be taken care of along the chain link fence. Brandon Findley: I will double check that that is being taken care of. DAB Member: Vehicles are being stored at an Auto Sales facility at 235 and Central that are being parked in violation of the conditional use and should be addressed. Neighborhood Reports DAB Member: We will have an event on September 15th at the Nomar Plaza where we will be celebrating Mexican Independence Day and the Hispanic heritage. We will have live music and dancers and the event is free so please come join us. ADJOURN Meeting was adjourned. Respectfully Submitted, Brandon Findley District VI Community Service Representative Office of Community Services